With the recent focus on austerity and efficiency, dealing with competing tensions has become increasingly critical within the creative industry. Also project-based industries and construction are suffering from a severe downfall in commissions. Architecture is at the intersection of these industries. As such it is a fertile ground for contradictions and management oxymora, such as artistic recognition and market constraints, individual passion and collective collaboration, creative spark and professional discipline. These are examples of paradoxes that architects confront regularly, particularly when acquiring commissions through design competitions. Based on a set of interview data with architects in the UK, the Netherlands and Italy we explore paradoxical tensions that are embedded within design competitions and the way competing architecture firms manage them. We focus on the participation decision and the submission strategy, revealing strategic intent and design strategy paradoxes and related management approaches. Because of the underlying tensions in creativity and managerial rigour, design competitions offer insights for other domains as well.